A new public bicycle sharing scheme Barclays Cycle Hire (aka “Boris Bikes”), propelled by Mayor Boris Johnson (who is a cyclist himself), launches today in London. At 6am, 4,700 bikes were in place in 315 docking stations across central London, while the total fell short of a promised 6,000 bikes at 400 docking stations.

Currently only registered users who have signed up on TfL’s website and received an electronic key (£3) in the post can use “Boris Bikes”, but unregistered users will be able to use it from the end of next month. I just registered last night and am waiting for the key to arrive. Once it arrives, you have to activate it online by logging in your account. In order to use the bikes, you have to pay “access fee” for £1@day / £5@week / £45@year, plus “usage charge” after first free 30 minutes for £1@hour, £4@90 mins, and £6@2 hours and so on (see details), which will be charged to your credit card. But you can use the bike for free for as much as you want, if you return it every 30 minutes and hire a new bike or the same one again after you re-dock for 5 minutes. If all the docking points are taken, you can get an extra free 15 minutes by using the touchscreen display on their nearest terminal, before you find another station. Be careful, you will be charged £150 for not returning a bike for 24 hours or £300 for not returning it at all. If the bike is broken, press the button with the spanner symbol when you return it – a mechanic will come to repair it.

The bicycles and the docking stations are built in Canada and are based on Montreal’s bicycle rental system Bixi. On the body of the bikes, you can see the blue logo of sponsor Barclays which donated £25 million to the scheme. The comfort-oriented and vandal resistant body equipped with computer system is quite heavy, and some cyclists claim that they can’t go fast. But it is totally fine for me, or I don’t want those selfish irritated ‘fanatics’ to use these beautiful bikes. These obnoxious cyclists pedal like crazy, passing a red-light, ringing the bell and kicking out pedestrians on their way, going around in between the cars, and jumping in front of the traffics like buzzing flies around a face, causing a slow traffics – the only thing they care is to get their destination as soon as possible. Very annoying!

As I wrote in the past entry, the London’s cycle lanes are still not good and safe, and doesn’t connect throughout central London. Also UK uses left-hand traffic which is a minor system in the world, and most of the tourists including Europeans and Americans who are not used to the traffic system may put themselves in danger. Also similar Paris’s Vélib’ has suffered vandalism and theft, and many people are anxious that the same things happen to Barclays Cycle Hire as well and cost taxpayers a fortune.

The scheme has just started, and let’ see how it goes.

家からすぐの所に出来た駐輪場。少し寂れた短い通りなのに、2つも大きな駐輪場がある。まあ、私にとっては便利だけれどね。

The docking station just few minutes from our flat. The street is rather deserted, but there are 2 docking stations on this short street. It is convenient for me and I don’t mind it, though.

After we ate at NOW yesterday, we happened to find the Bathhouse while we were looking for a café. The Bathhouse is a café/restaurant/bar, sitting in an old Victorian Turkish Bathhouse built in 1894-95, as its name suggests (more details are here) – that’s why its exterior and details are sort of exotic. Ultra small but comfy café space on the ground floor is filled with antique furniture and nostalgic songs are coming out of an good old record player. I haven’t seen actually but the restaurant, offering British/European dishes, looks magnificent with impressive oriental decor (click “The Bathhouse” on their web gallery for photos).

Next to the Bathhouse is an small Anglican church, St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate. Surrounded by office buildings, people were taking a break or sunbathing in the surprisingly quite church courtyard – it is a small oasis in the busy and bustling City.

We went to a new Chinese fast food restaurant “NOW”, opened next to Liverpool Street Station. Its colorful logo, wallpaper with Shanghai’s flashy neon signs, and slick interior are just on the trend of modern Asian fast food restaurant in London. NOW is a take-out shop, but also has some eat-in counter seats in its small space, as well as al fresco tables outside.

Their “Chinese Street Food“, inspired by the food stalls and street stands of Southern China, includes rice porridges, wonton soups, dim sum, dumplings and buns. I saw an Asian lady with frown face hand-making dumplings from outside, so I had a slight hope – but it was just another pseudo (and bad) Asian food. Wontons in their chicken won ton soup (£3.99) is a bit hard and dry, but more than that, the soup is blunt and little too sweet and sour. Good looking classic dim sum basket (£3.99) is another disappointment as well. We went NOW because it was today’s pick of Daily Candy, but it was a mistake – I shouldn’t have gone to another good looking but phony Oriental restaurant…

There are all kinds of events, festivals and concerts taking place in London in summertime. When we passed by Whitecross Street today, we saw colorful art works here and there on the building on the street. I was curious what it was, and found out that it is a 6-week art event Whitecross Street Party “Rise of the Non-Conformists”, started with street party on July 25 & 26, running until September 5. It is a part of CREATE10, a cultural program with home-grown talent from across east and southeast London, featuring more than 30 artists.

The festival is called “Rise of Non-Conformists”, but the artworks are kind of ordinary graffiti/street arts that you can see anywhere in London, and are sort of conformist in a way the street arts are – though I personally like the work of stencil artist and curator of the event Teddy Baden (in the second top photo on the left).

チポレの声明「Food with Integrity」によると、できるだけオーガニックで環境・農家に配慮した材料、そして自然に育てられた家畜の肉を使うように努力しているそう。その真偽はともかく、1993年のオープン以来、北米で人気を博して急展開したチェーンだけあって、ここのブリート（£6.35〜）は味がなかなかしっかりしていてジューシーで、ファーストフードにしては悪くない。店内も広々していて、インテリアもチープ過ぎない。私的には、これまでトライしたロンドンのファーストフード・ブリート店の中では、トップに躍り出た。ロンドンに数多あるブリート店のブリートは、あんまり味にパンチがなく、ショーウィンドー内で材料が乾いてしまいパサパサしたものも多くて、Mが食べに行っても横で見ているだけのことが多かったけれど、ここのは食べれそう。

The first blog entry after a while. As I wrote in the past, M is a big burrito fan (see past entry). While I had been away, he went to a new Burrito shop several times, so I gave a try with him today.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, named after a smoke-dried jalapeño Chipotle, is a a chain of restaurants in the United States and Canada specializing in burritos and tacos, and the company currently has more than 1000 locations in North America. This shop in London is the first restaurant that Chipotle has expanded to Europe, opened in May 2010.

According to the company’s mission statement Food with Integrity, the chain makes efforts in using sustainable and organic ingredients, and serves more naturally raised meat than any other restaurants. I don’t know if it is true or not, but their burrito (£6.35〜) is quite juicy and flavorful, and it is not bad as a fast food burrito. The store is spacious and their interior is not cheap as well. Chipotle now goes on the top of my ‘burrito’ list among all the casual & fast Burrito shops we tried in London. Burritos in general in these shops don’t have much taste and often dried up in keeping-warm containers – therefore, usually I don’t eat these burritos but just sitting next to M while he is eating, but I guess I can have Chipotle’s burrito with him from now on.